Whooping Cough Kills 5 in California -- State Declares an Epidemic

After the deaths of five infants, California health
authorities have declared an epidemic of whooping cough, also known as
pertussis.

The announcement came after authorities noticed a sharp spike in
reports of pertussis, which often is mistaken for a cold or the flu and is
highly contagious.

A CDC study suggests that the resurgence of whooping
cough is due to the vaccine causing an increased and more virulent toxin.

The CDC acknowledges that whooping cough is recurring in highly vaccinated
countries -- and that it is not just because some children are unvaccinated,
although that can be a factor.

According to the CDC:

"The reemergence of pertussis has been attributed to
various factors, including increased awareness, improved diagnostics, decreased
vaccination coverage, suboptimal vaccines, waning vaccine-induced immunity, and
pathogen adaptation ... Pathogen adaptation is supported by several
observations."

In other words, vaccinating against the whooping cough
pathogens has caused the pathogens to evolve with a more virulent strain.

By Barbara Loe Fisher

Reports
of whooping cough outbreaks in California 12and in other states this
summer are nothing new. Every four to five years – no matter how high
the vaccination rate is, there are reports of whooping cough increases.

Whooping cough is a respiratory disease. Toxins in
Bordetella pertussis bacteria stimulate the production of large amounts
of thick, sticky mucus that can clog the airways of tiny babies and
children, making it difficult for them to take a breath without
vomiting, choking and making a whooping sound 3 as they struggle to
breathe.

There is an acellular pertussis
vaccine – DTaP - which was licensed for American babies in 1996. 4 DTaP replaced an older,
very reactive whole cell pertussis vaccine - DPT - that was associated
with more cases of high fever, collapse/shock, convulsions, brain
inflammation and permanent brain damage. 56

It
is well known that pertussis vaccines, which can contain various
amounts of bioactive toxins 7891011and also aluminum 121314 and mercury
15 additives, have killed
and brain injured some children.

Over half
of the 2,480 awards for vaccine injury and death totaling $2 billion
dollars made under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act
involve pertussis vaccine.16

Pertussis
vaccination rates are very high in the U.S. According to the CDC, 84
percent of children under age three have received four DTaP shots. 17By the time American
children enter kindergarten nearly every child has gotten all the CDC
recommended pertussis shots. 18

In
2009, the CDC said that the proportion of totally unvaccinated children
in America is only six hundredths of one percent (0.06). 19

Even
with super high pertussis vaccine coverage in America and other
countries like the Netherlands, Australia, Finland and Canada, whooping
cough disease cannot be prevented. 20

There are number of reasons for this
fact.

First,
pertussis vaccines widely used since the 1950's have not prevented
whooping cough disease from circulating in vaccinated populations.
Unknown numbers of children and adults, who have gotten all government
recommended pertussis shots, can and do develop whooping cough or are
carriers without symptoms. 2122

Because pertussis
vaccine immunity is only temporary and does not last, health officials
are now telling teenagers and adults to get more booster shots. 23 But that is not going to
matter if scientific evidence that B. pertussis organisms have mutated
and become vaccine-resistant turns out to be correct. 24

A second important
reason is that another Bordetella organism – parapertussis – also can
cause whooping cough. 25 B.
parapertussis symptoms, while often milder, can look exactly like B.
pertussis.

But doctors rarely
recognize or test for parapertussis. 26 And there is NO vaccine
for parapertussis.

The DTaP
vaccine given five times to children under age 6 and booster doses for
teenagers and adults does not protect against whooping cough
caused by B. parapertussis.

In
highly vaccinated countries like the U.S., parapertussis is on the rise
and it is estimated that perhaps 30 percent or more of whooping cough
disease is actually caused by parapertussis! 27

So
which bacterial organism is causing much of the whooping cough being
seen in California, Nevada, 28 Oregon and other states
this summer?

Is it B. pertussis or B.
parapertussis?

Has there been any attempt
by health officials to do expensive PCR lab tests on suspected whooping
cough cases to find out? 29

Asking the Right Questions is Imperative

Another question: Are public health officials
being transparent with the public about just how many children and
adults reported to have whooping cough have been fully vaccinated?

In 1985 there was a lot of publicity about whooping
cough outbreaks in eight states and all the blame was put on parents of
DPT vaccine injured children calling for a safer pertussis vaccine.

But 25 years ago I investigated those whooping cough
outbreaks and found 50 to 80 percent or more of the children and adults
with whooping cough symptoms had been vaccinated. 30

Bordetella organisms
causing whooping cough disease live in animals like sheep, pigs, cats
and dogs, as well as humans, and have been part of the earth's
ecosystem, evolving to survive, for thousands of years. 3132 Yet, mass vaccination of
humans with pertussis vaccine is only 60 years old.

So why are the
unvaccinated being blamed for whooping cough outbreaks in California,
33Oregon 34 and other states?

The
majority of Americans alive today have gotten 3 to 5 pertussis shots.

The truth
is that, whether you are vaccinated or not, you can get a mild or
serious case of whooping cough from B. pertussis or B. parapertussis
organisms. And both whooping cough disease and pertussis vaccines carry a
risk of injury or death, which can be greater for some than others.

There are
no guarantees.

It is time for public health officials and doctors
to look at themselves and stop pointing fingers at those who have
examined pertussis vaccine benefits and risks and come to a different
conclusion.

Vaccine Does NOT Equal Assurance of Immunity

After my precocious two year old son suffered a
convulsion, collapse/shock and brain inflammation following his fourth
DPT shot in 1980 and was left with multiple learning disabilities and
attention deficit disorder, in 1993 my two youngest children, then 5 and
10 years old, came down with whooping cough. They coughed violently and
spit up huge amounts of thick mucus for 8 weeks before fully recovering
and going on to become honor roll students.

The
profile on whooping cough in the 1985 book I co-authored with medical
historian Harris Coulter, "DPT: A Shot in the Dark," 35is about my sister and
her family, who were fully vaccinated. Her newborn baby almost died of
whooping cough but survived and attended college on a full academic
scholarship. Even so, other babies who get whooping
cough do not survive.

There are no
guarantees.

A quarter century later, DPT:
A Shot in the Dark still stands as the most comprehensive,
referenced analysis of whooping cough and pertussis vaccine risks and
why America's mass vaccination system is in urgent need of reform.

Go to NVIC.org 36 and become a family donor
supporter of the National Vaccine Information Center and you will
receive a complimentary copy of that historic book.

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